Fuel and process of making same



Pi atented Jan. 30, 1923. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN I. GILLSTRAP,

or CRYSTAL LAKE, IOWA.

FUEL AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

"No Drawing.

\ and vario'us'types of lignitic matter into coke suitable for use in'any art or in any capacity. P

It is well known'in the art that lignite 'is ordinarily useless, or at least practically so as it cannot be coked under any of the usual methods owing to the fact that it crumbles. It is with this fact in View that the present invention""has been designed. The present invention has for its primary object the provision 'of a process by which material of this nature" may be. properly 'coked so as to form a fuel Whichmay'be used for any and all purposes.

In carrying out my nvention. I take ;a

suitable quantity, for instance one ton, of lignite, sub-bituminou coal, or other lignitic matter, crushed to a vsufiicientfineness that it will passthrough a one inch mesh screen, and add'to it twenty pounds, more or less, of pitch or coal tar which. has been melted so a to be poured over the crushed lignite orf'coal. Isalso mix with this mass one hundred pounds of clay, such as ordi' nary clay, or clay containing a- Variable amount of iron pyrites. I also add forty pounds, more or less, of ground commercial coke which is preferably crushed so as to pass through an inch screen. This entire mixture is heated in a coke oven and maintained at a temperature varying from five hundred to a thousand degrees centigrade for six hours, during which time allthe moisture is expelled from the mixture and all .the volatile matter from the coal is driven off. It is of course intended that this volatile matter be caught and condensed so that the valuable by-products may be saved.

The carrying out of my process is very simple as there is enough gas expelled from I Application filed February 23, 1921, Seria1'No. 447,231.

the mixture during the heating thereof to furnish the heat for coking ovens, there being consequently no waste of fuelin the operation. The ,clay found overlying the'fif lignite coal beds of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and-Texas is well suited for use in my process. The volatile matter expelled during the coking 0f the mixture willywhen condensed, provide the necessary. tarto act v as the binder. '1 a v From experience I have discovered that the coke produced by my process is a highly eflicient fuel adapted for'all purposes, and I that it burns freely and leaves little ash and 'fi'a no clinker or slag.

While I have enumerated the proportions" of the ingredients used I desire to have'it distinctly understood that the proportions and specific character of the ingredients may be varied and that the temperature used in effecting the coking may be varied considerably. Neither do I limit myselfto' any exact size of coal as'I have found that coal of various sizes will coke by my process. and on account of the excess moisture in lignite coal I have found it necessary to crush it to various sizes depending on the moisture in it so as to have it give up all the moisture evenly during the process. It is also to be understood that I reserve the right to makeany changes in the carrying out of my process which Will come within the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim I 1. The process of forming artificial fuel.

consisting in grinding lignitic material, adding ground clay, ground commercial coke and a. tar binder thereto, and subsequently coking the mixture by subjecting it to a temperature of from 500 to 1000 centigrade. 3

2. An artificial fuel consisting of a mixture of 2000 parts of crushed lignitic material, 20 parts of coal tar, parts of ground clay, and 40 part of ground commercial coke mixed together and heated to effect coking.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix mylOO 

